The CTA has not yet announced a start date for Ventra except to say that it is coming this summer. The agency last week rolled out a Twitter feed for the program, @VentraChicago.

The Ventra card will replace the Chicago Card and disposable unlimited passes with magnetic stripes.

The CTA will also offer an optional pre-paid Ventra MasterCard, where riders can pay for their transit and other purchases. The CTA said last month they have rolled back some of the controversial fees associated with the prepaid debit option.

Riders will be able to use their current cards through the end of the year.

Since the CTA cut some bus service by her Lakeview home in December, Jennifer Burgess has abandoned one of her weekend rituals: brunching at Wishbone, shopping at Whole Foods and visiting Dinkel's bakery—all off Lincoln Avenue.

Two suburban men assaulted and robbed a panhandler on the South Side on Monday—then came back and beat him again after one of the men left his cellphone at the scene, prosecutors said at a court hearing Tuesday.

A day after Trevor Noah was declared the new host of "The Daily Show," his graphic tweets targeting women and Jews are causing a social media backlash and Comedy Central is defending its newest late-night star.